The Final Piece
by ForgetMeNot01
Summary: The Academy asks Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green to train a group of recruits. The Academy wants to make their team perfect, and to do that, they need another girl on the team. When a friend of Victor's shows up at the Academy, many things start to change for Sang and the boys. All the Ghost Bird characters belong to C.L. Stone. I only own the originals. Please Review :)
1. Chapter 1

"Kendra!", my mom yells from upstairs, "Come up here now!"

"I have to go, Victor. I'll call you later." I hang up my phone, forever wishing that I lived in South Carolina with him, and not in Iowa, the land of corn. I rush upstairs to find my mom hunched a pot of boiling water.

"You didn't do your chores." she states. I look at the clock and see that it is only 5 o' clock.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted." She flinches. I step toward her, worried. "Are you okay?"

"Stop changing the subject." she says, flinching again, "You were talking to that boy again."

"Victor? Yah, we were talking about school."

"He doesn't go to your school!" she yells, suddenly outraged, "You keep lying!"

"Um. I met him at camp. The advanced music one." I say while taking a step back, confused. "We kept in touch."

"You keep lying!" She yells, "And know your talking about who-knows-what with some boy you met!"

"I'm not lying!" I yell, fed up with the accusations, "We were talking about school!"

"Liar!" she screams, turning around, with the pot of boiling water still in her hands.

"No!" I scream, "I'm not!"

Her eyes bulged open in rage, and before I realize what is happening, she grabs the pot with both hands and swings it at me, making contact with the left side of my face. The water pours all over my arm and leg. I fall to the ground in shock and pain. I feel nauseous as I see my skin melting and blistering from the burns.

"I can't stand you!" she yells. "Go pack your stuff. You get one suitcase. I need you out of my house." She storms off to her room as I sit on the floor. I pick myself off the floor and limp downstairs. So many questions flood to my head, but I am too terrified to ask her. I walk past my younger brother, whose eyes widen at the state of my skin.

"What..." he stammers.

"Mom." I sob out. "She is sending me away. Can you help me pack!"

His eyes fill with tears, but he says nothing. We both saw this day coming. Our mom has been always angry as a side-affect of her migraine medicine. I always take the anger to protect Jason. Sometimes the punishments were easy to take, sometimes they weren't. He grabbed the biggest suitcase and dropped it in my room. He goes to my closet and grabs me secret stash of Tylenol and hands me some. He then grabs a baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants for me to cover my burns with. After I change, we start packing as many sets of clothes we can fit in the suitcase. I pack my toiletries, and grab all of my contacts. Jason grabs some picture I have laying around my room and grabs a couple books. I grab even more books, because reading is my escape. As we are packing the last of my things, our mom bursts into my room. My brother jumps back and I stand in front of him.

"The taxi is on its way. Your plane leaves in two hours. I have to call your aunt and tell her your are staying with her."

She walks out and I turn to my brother. I see that he is now crying and he pulls me into a hug. He then grabs my suitcase and brings it upstairs. I grab my phone and turn to look in the mirror and sob. My entire bottom-left of my face is burned raw and has dried blood and blisters covering the surface of my skin. I look away before I puke. I look around my room one last time and walk upstairs. Jason is standing with my suitcase and my glasses. He also has my wallet and some extra money, his parting gift to me.

"Your phone number will be turned off tomorrow. It gives you enough time to call your aunt when the plane lands." With that, she walks away.

Jason pulls me into another hug and helps me put my suitcase in the taxi.

"I'll say goodbye to dad for you." he says. "I'll try to visit soon. Stay safe."

"I will. Good-bye." I say, starting to tear up.

"Bye." he says, also tearing up. He watches as the taxi takes me away.

The taxi ride gives my mind some time to catch up with what just happened. I send Victor a text saying something happened and that I wouldn't be able to text him. I hope I run into him soon. My aunt lives in South Carolina near Victor, but I don't want him to see me until the burns have healed.

The taxi arrives at the airport and I check in and board the plane. I fall asleep, knowing that it will be awhile before we land. I wake up as we are stopping and prepare myself to see my favorite aunt.

I step off the plane, scanning the area for the nearest bathroom. I walk into the one at the end of the hallway and call my aunt.

"Hello? Kendra, is that you?" I hear from the phone.

"Yah. I wanted to call you and tell you the plane landed."

"Okay. I am by the luggage pick-up."

" 'kay. I'll be there in a minute."

I shut off my phone and look at the wreck I had become in the last few hours. My eyes, normally a sparkling brown, full of life, were now dull and dead looking. My slightly wavy hair was a tangled mess, laying flat on my head. My face is blotchy red from crying and it is barely recognizable from the burns. I comb out my hair with my fingers and pull it into a braid. The good thing about having caramel colored hair is that it always looks good in a braid. I step out of the bathroom and walk towards the luggage pick-up. I stare at the ground when I first spot my aunt, not sure how she is feeling about me staying with her. All of the sudden, I feel arms pulling me into a hug. I look up to see my aunt's eyes and she bursts into tears and gives me another hug.

"When your mom called me saying she was kicking you out, I was so confused. Then she said you were marked and I was even more confused. She didn't tell me what had happened. And you don't have to tell me now, let's get you to a doctor." She picked up my suitcase and wrapped her other arm around me as we walked to her car. Now it was my turn to burst into tears. I was so happy she is here and she is being so nice. I am so happy I got sent to her.

"I know a really good doctor who I want you to see. He will make sure you get the right stuff the first time and he will probably give you something to help the pain. Okay?"

I nod, not trusting my voice to stay steady. We pull into the parking lot of a hospital and walk in. My aunt walks to the front counter and requests a doctor named Sean Green. A couple minutes later a young doctor walks in and gives my aunt a hug.

"Susan! It's so great to see you! How can I help you?" The doctor asks.

"It's nice to see you too. I am afraid that my niece has some pretty nasty burns that need attention." She replies, looking at me.

"Of course. Anything for the great Susan." He says with a wink. He motions for us to follow him to an examination room. I sit on the table and move my hair to the side.

"Darling," he says, "can you look up at me?"

I look up, not even realizing I was staring at my knees.

"Is the burn only on your face?" He asks with a concerned face.

"No." I say quietly. "It's also on my left arm and leg."

He opens up a cupboard and hands me a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He then shows me to the bathroom and asks me to come back when I am ready. I change quickly, not wanting to keep them waiting. I walk back and sit down again. Dr. Green's face becomes very concerned.

"Doll, how did you get these burns?" He asks, " Some of them are second degree. These are pretty bad."

I start to tear up, ashamed of what had happened. I feel a hand on my shoulder and look up to see my aunt supporting me.

"My… mom…" I stammer," She.. she hit me with.. With a pot of boiling water."

I start sobbing. Both the doc and my aunt seem stunned. They look at each other and share a silent conversation. They seem to agree on whatever they were talking about, because they both nod.

"I'm going to give you something for the burns and the pain, but also something so that it doesn't leave a scar." He says.

I look up surprised.

"I didn't know that was possible." I say quietly.

Both of the share a smile. Dr. Green walks us to the door and he wishes us a good night.

"I set up the guest bedroom for you." My aunt says as we get into the car.

"Thank you." I say, truly meaning it.

"No problem at all." She says as we pull into her driveway. We walk in and she helps me bring in my belongings.

"I'm staying home tomorrow with you and Anna." Anna is my little cousin. "Sleep in as long as you would like, you have had a long day. Good-night."

"Good-night. Thank you." I say as she leaves.

"It is no problem at all. See you tomorrow" She shuts of the lights as she leaves and I drift off to sleep.

I wake up to the sound of birds chirping. That's weird, I can never hear the bird at home. Then it hits me. I'm not at home. I was kicked out. I look at the clock on the wall and it reads 9 o'clock. I change and walk downstairs. My aunt looks up from her book and gives me a small smile.

"Hey." she says," Your cousin is at a friends. Do you want something to eat?"

I shake my head. "No, but can I go for a walk? I need to think."

She hesitates, but nods. "Sure, but please check in every once in awhile."

I nod and step out the door. I see a wooded area and walk to it. I walk on a trail for about an hour. Then I see a huge tree with branches big enough to hold my weight. I climb to one of the top branches and sit and close my eyes and think. After a little while, I hear a noise and my head snaps up. On the tree across from me a see a blond girl my age.

"Hey!" She says with a smile.

Startled, I try to cover up my burns with my hair, but I end up losing my balance and falling off my branch. My cheerleading training kicks in and a grab the branch and use my momentum to flip myself back onto the branch.

"Oh!" The girl says with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry! And you don't have to cover your face, it's okay."

"It's okay." I say, "I shouldn't have freaked out like that."

"I'm Sang."

"Kendra"

We start talking for awhile, mostly about her because I would answer most questions.

"Sang!" I hear a male voice yell. "The guys are almost here."

Sang smiles at this. "Hey. Do you want to meet some people? I think they will like you."

"Um." I stammer. " I guess so."

We climb down the trees and I walk with her towards the neighborhood. We get out of the woods to find a boy waiting for us. He looks momentarily surprised, but recovers his composure quickly.

"Hi." he says reaching out a hand. "I'm Kota."

"Hi. I'm Kendra." I shake his hand and shift my hair so that it covers some of my burns.

"We are all going to my house. Do you want to come?"

"Sure. Thank you." We start walking towards one of the houses and I look up to find him looking at me.

"Have we met before?" He asks, " I swear I have seen your face before."

"Uh. Probably not." I say, " I just moved here."

He nods and opens his door for us to walk in. He turns to Sang and says "I'm gonna text the guys and say we have a guest."

"Okay. I'll walk Kendra upstairs." Sang says.

We sit in Kota's room for a while. Then I hear a bunch of footsteps and see a group of guys walk up. My jaw drops, they are all stunning.

"This must be the new girl." Says the one with long blond hair. He smirks. "She's hot."

"Luke!" Sang yells. I can feel my cheeks getting red. One of the taller guys punches Luke in the shoulder.

"Sorry about him." He says. "I'm North."

The guys all start introducing themselves. Luke, North, Nathan, Gabriel, Silas, and Kota.

"There is still three more in our group." Kota says. " Two of them can't make it and one is late."

They all settle around the room and start asking a ton of question about why I moved and which house I like in now, about which school I was going to and where I used to live.

"I used to live in Iowa. I live in the greenish house on the other side of the woods, and I don't know which school yet." I answer. We all talk for a little longer. Then we hear a door open.

"Finally." Kota says. "He is really late."

I gasp when I see the boy walk through the door. His eyes widen at the sight of me.

"Kendra?" He asks.

"Victor?"

I jump up as he runs over and sweeps me into a hug. I rest my head on his chest as I feel the tears coming. I missed him so much.

"Wait. You know her?" Kota asks.

Victor pulls me so that I am sitting by him on the floor. "Yah. his is the girl from camp."

"I thought she looked familiar, but she looks different from the pictures."

Victor turns to look at me. He scans over me and his face contorts in anger as his eyes see the burns. I look down ashamed. I feel his fingers under my chin and I force myself to look up.

"Tiny," he says using the nickname he gave me for being the smallest person at the camp, "What happened to you?" I feel the tears running down my cheeks as everyone looks at me.

"We didn't ask about the marks because we thought they were birthmarks." says Sang.

"They aren't?" asks Nathan. I shake my head and see that half of them had their jaws dropped. Luke and North both had their fists clenched in anger.

"My mom…" I choke out, "she um… She hit me with a pan of boiling water. Then she sent me away so she didn't have to deal with it." Victor pulls me into his arms.

"Well." he says," I am glad you ended up here." The others nod in agreement. "We probably won't go to the same school, but you can come over to hang out. We are here a lot."

"You are welcome here any time." says Kota.

"Yah and I live across the street." says Sang. "Finally a girl that is actually nice." The boys chuckle and I smile.

Maybe this won't so bad after all.

When the sun started to set I say that I should probably head home. I had only checked in with my aunt over lunch and I didn't want to worry he. Victor and Sang walked me to the door and told me to meet at Sang's tomorrow for lunch. Victor said he would walk over with me around 11. I said good-bye and went to find my aunt. I find her sitting at a table with her laptop.

"I'm back." I say, "Sorry I was out so late."

She smiles. "It's alright. I'm glad you made some friends." She motions for me to sit next to her. "I've been thinking about school and I think I want you to go to the same one as Anna. It's a special private school, though. They already offered you a scholarship, but I wanted to ask you first"

"Sure." I say, "I like a challenge."

"Good. Since you will be new, you will have physical training starting at six everyday. After you lunch, you will then start your intelligence training." My jaw drops. She smirks and continues. "You will be in a group with 10 other girls. The teacher will explain to you what makes this school so important. The uniforms will arrive tomorrow and school will start in 2 months. I'm so excited for you. This is a great opportunity." She talks about the school some more while we eat dinner. When she lets me go to bed, it is already late.

"What have I gotten myself into." I mumble as I drift to sleep.

Owen and Sean called in their team shortly after Kendra left. When the boys and Sang arrived, they saw their leaders sitting with the Academy Board. They sat down as they began to speak.

One of the people on the board spoke first. "As you know, your team is one of the largest in the Academy. This opens up a lot of jobs." He looks around the room before he continues. "A multitude of important jobs have just been opened up, and we want your team on the job. Unfortunately, you are one element short. To solve this, Owen and Sean will start training 10 new recruits, 10 new girls, and your team will pick one that will work well with the team."

"We already have a girl." states North, gesturing to Sang.

"I understand that, but the jobs need 2 girls. Their training will start Monday. 5 girls were chosen for their intellect, 5 for their physical abilities. You can't let them know who is who, so they will have a competitive drive. This will help us see how they will perform under pressure. Besides Owen and Sean, no one can know who the recruits are. We want unbiased choices. That is all. Meeting adjourned." With that, the Board left. The team all looked at each other with shocked expressions.

"Well." says Sang," This will be fun." This lightens the mood and everyone chuckles.

"Let's hope we get a good group." say Sean.

"Yes. Until later. Have good weekends everybody. Be prepared for school." says Owen. Everyone exited the room until it was just Sean and Owen.

"I hope they know what they are doing." says Sean.

"They usually do." says Owen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I'm so sorry that I don't update a lot. School has been super crazy and lots of stuff has happened. So sorry for the wait and enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Kendra!" someone yells right into my ear. I sit straight up and almost hit my head on something. That "something" turns out to be Gabriel. I look around my room and see that Victor, Sang, and Luke are all there too.

"I hate you all," I say. I lay back down and cover my face with a pillow. I groan when I hear everyone laugh at my expense. The past two months have flown by. I had become close friends with most of the group. They stepped in and saved me in the worst time of my life. They've stuck by my side and we've done nearly everything together. They had to leave at the strangest times, but I never questioned it.

"School starts tomorrow. You have to wake up so that we can celebrate," says Victor. I lift up my pillow and glare at him.

"We don't even go to the same school, you twit."

Victor laughs, "Yah, but both schools start on the same day."

"Whatever." I mumble. I grab my glasses and stumble to the hallway bathroom. I quickly put my contacts in and brush my teeth. I then fix my hair into a braid and put heling cream on my burns. I walk back to my room to pick out an outfit. Sang and the boys always dress rather nice, so I stand out quite often. I hadn't been able to go shopping for clothes yet. Aunt Susan has offered, but I don't want her to have to spend even more money on me. I pick one of my nicer jean shorts and a plain black tank-top. Then I walk to my dresser and grab a necklace with a silver pendent on it. It has a "K" engraved in it. I got it as a gift from my brother a couple years ago and now I rarely leave the house without it. After I change in the bathroom I walk through the hallway towards my room. I stop when I hear the others talking in hushed tones.

"The new recruits start tomorrow." I hear Luke whisper.

"Yah. I'm worried that Kendra will feel left out when we bring another girl in." Victor's voice says.

"I'm honestly scared," Sang says, "Kendra is the first girl I feel safe around. I don't want another girl here." I peek around the corner and see Sang practically crying. Luke has his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"Couldn't we just take Kendra and train her?" asks Luke.

"I wish." both Gabriel and Victor say. I take a step back, worried that I'm hearing something that I shouldn't. The floor board behind me creaks, giving away my position. I gather my courage and walk into my room. Sang quickly wipes her eyes and gives me a huge smile. I smile back and look at them.

"So what's the plan for today?" I ask. All of their faces brighten. Sang and Gabriel share a suspicious look as Victor walks over and puts an arm around my shoulders.

"We, my dear, are going shopping." he says with a smirk. I look at him with wide-eyes.

"What…" I stammer, "I can't." Gabriel gives me a strange look.

"Why not?" Gabriel asks.

"I don't have enough money left."

"That's where we come in." says Victor. "I already talked to your aunt and she is on board. We are officially kidnapping you for a day and getting you a new wardrobe for the school year."

My jaw drops. I feel tears coming to my eyes but I quickly blink them away. Victor smirks at me and I quickly tackle him in a hug. "Thank you." I say.

"No problem, Tiny." he says while returning the hug. We all walk to Victor's car out in the driveway. I immediately call shotgun, knowing how I get motion sick if I'm in the back. We drive to the mall and park near a store called American Eagle. I see a store called Old Navy and the windows show that the store is having I sale. I start walking over but I feel a hand grab mine and drag me into a different store. My jaw drops again when I see the size of the store. This one store is nearly the size of a mall back in Iowa.

"Okay. Let's get started." says Gabriel. He walks over to the Women's section and starts browsing. He grabs a dress and holds it up to me. "Your aunt said you need nice clothes and athletic clothes for school, but that you also need some casual clothes. So first I need to find your style."

"Uh. Comfy and casual?" I say, not sure what my style is.

"Nope. It is a bit more casual than Sang's style but not too casual. You also have a bit of edge but cute too. I think it's because of your eyes."

"Oh." I say, subconsciously moving a hand up to my eyes. Victor grabs my hand and moves it to hold it by his side. He looks at me and smiles.

"He means that as a compliment. Your eyes are great," he says. I blush, not fully believing him because my eyes aren't very interesting. Gabriel hold about 50 other items up to see before he forces me to walk over to a fitting room. He has me try on a pink sundress with flower and a yellow cardigan. I cringe looking at it. I'm not a huge fan of bright colors. I walk out and I see that everyone agrees with me.

"Hold on." Gabriel says. He digs around in the pile of clothes and grabs a thin gray sweater-jacket. He slips the cardigan off my shoulders and hands me the gray one. I put it on and it reaches the bottom of the dress. He gives his nob of approval and I turn and look in the mirror. They outfit looks a ton better with the dark jacket. Gabriel stands up and starts pulling at the dress by my waist. His eyes widen when the fabric pulls away from my skin a ways.

"I'm gonna grab a smaller size." he mumbles looking distressed. I look at Sang, confused. She walks over and looks at the size of the dress.

"Oh." she says and runs out after Gabriel.

"What did I do?" I ask Luke and Victor.

"I'm not sure." says Luke, "I'm going to see what's up."

I sit on the bench by Victor and rest my head on his shoulder. We wait until they all come back. Now Luke looks distressed as well. Gabriel has me try on a handful of new clothes and they fit a lot better but are still a tad big. Gabriel says that this is the smallest size so we buy them and leave. We walk out of the store and I clutch Victor's arm. I'm worried that I did something to upset them. Were they worried about the burns? They had seen those before.

"How about we head back to my place for lunch?" says Sang.

Luke's eyes light up. "Yes!" he says pumping a fist in the air. We all laugh and load into the car. The car ride is oddly silent as we travel back to Sang's. When we get there Gabriel and Sang exchange a look and head to the kitchen while Luke pulls Victor to a side room. I walk alone to the Living room and curl up on a couch. Luke and Victor walk in the room and they both look upset. Then Sang and Gabriel walk in with tons of sandwiches.

"Eat up." says Gabriel. I grab one off the top and take a couple bites. Everyone else does the same. I see them all watch me eat. I give them all odd looks and set down my sandwich when I'm full. I ate half of it, which is normal for me. Sang looks at it and it looks like she wants to cry. All the boys look distressed as well.

"What the heck is going on." I finally say. They all jump and look at each other sheepishly.

"Kendra…" Gabriel starts, "Please don't take this as us attacking you."

"Huh?" I mumble confused. Then I realize. They worried about my dress size, them watching me eat, making a ton of food. They knew. I stand up and trip over the table trying to get away. I had tried to hard to hide my eating habits from them.

"Tiny! No. Come back. Please, we just want to talk." Victor says. I feel the tears starting to run down my cheeks. They know I'm broken now. They will leave me. I look at them and I step back again.

"What. What do you want" I whisper.

"We want to help you," Victor says as he takes a step closer. He reaches a hand out but I move away from it. "We won't tell Susan. Just let us help you." I drop to my knees and cover my face, ashamed. I immediately feel strong arms surround me and I lean into them. He picks me up and brings me back over to the couch where the others are watching with concerned looks. I look up and nod at them to continue.

"Ken, you wear a smaller size than Sang, and she is almost 5 inches shorter than you. That wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but Sang is recovering from an eating disorder." Gabriel says. I flinch when he mentions an eating disorder. "I hate to ask this, but are you eating enough? Please tell us the truth." I look up and I break a little when I see all their stressed faces.

"No… I probably don't. I forget most times. Sometimes I just sleep through the meals." I keep looking at my hands in my lap as I answer. I feel another pair of arms pick me up away from Victor. I soon feel tears on my head and I look up to see Gabriel crying.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asks.

"I didn't think it was important. You guys would probably think it was stupid and leave." His arms tighten around me and I see the others huddle around us for a group hug.

"We would never do that. You have to trust us."

"I do." I say as I look up at them. I scoot back so that everyone can see me.

"It started when I was still back in Iowa." Everyone almost looks sadder knowing how long this has been going on. "My mum stopped helping me pay for clothes and I was too young to get a job. My dad would give me as much as he could, but my mum would find out if he gave too much. It got to the point when I could only afford children's clothes. So I started watching what I ate so that I could fit into them. Soon it was me making sure I was small enough, but I kept telling myself I wasn't. After a while, I wouldn't get hungry anymore so I just stopped eating. I'm not even sure how much I weigh anymore or what size I am. Aunt Susan has been making me eat though. She doesn't know about before, but she says I need extra protein for school."

"She's smart to do that." says Luke.

"Thank you for trusting us, Tiny" Victor whispers as he gives me a hug. I give all of them a hug and I sit down and force down the other half of the sandwich. They all looked extremely happy at that. We sit and talk for a couple more hours until the rest of the group comes over to watch a movie. It was Sang's turn to pick so we ended up watching a classic. Victor walks me to my house after the movie ends and wishes me luck with school tomorrow. I wave goodbye as he walks away.

"Hey Kenny." Aunt Susan says when I walk in. "Let's get you set up for school so you can leave once you wake up." I groan remembering the 6 a.m. work-out class that was mandatory at this school. We pack my backpack with all my toiletries for the morning and a blue dress with a gray jacket for classes after lunch. I take my contacts out and head to bed, knowing I'll need all the sleep I can get. I set my alarm for 5, leaving myself extra time to eat and get to school. Then I drift off to my dream world.

"Tomorrow the first recruits come in. I want you guys to be training just as hard as these new girls. No slacking. They will be joining you in your classes in a few weeks. Be prepared." Mr. Blackbourne keeps talking about the coming weeks but Victor can hardly focus. His mind keeps drifting back to Kendra. He can't help but worry about how she'll fit in at her new school. She has always had a problem with being shy around new people. She didn't like talking to new people. He decided he would visit her after school and make sure she was alright.

"Mr. Morgan." Victor snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of his name. "Did you hear a single thing I just said?" Mr. Blackbourne asks.

"No, sir. Sorry."

"Pay attention. Your job is to look at all the stats we send to you to analyze. We won't reveal any names but we want you to know who we are having you work with." with that, he closes the meeting and lets them go.

Why can't we know their names? Victor thinks. I wonder what they are hiding.

* * *

 **Yay! Kendra starts school tomorrow and it's gonna be a fun time. :)**


End file.
